Naked Neck/Turken Thread

[DesertChic]

Well if you don't get some other breeds at the sam time as you get giants, you will just have to do the whole trip again in a few weeks/months because you will probably change your mind..

LOL! So many temptations, so little time!

There are just a few more breeds I've been eyeing, some for pretty feathers + eggs, and some for personalities + meat/size. I still love the Buff Brahma, but I've held back because I'm so worried about the effects of our desert heat on the breed. I spent far too much time and money as it is keeping my remaining Bielefelders from dying of heat stroke. If they were such sweet birds I would've culled them already, but I'm pretty sure my son would disown me if I did that, and I'm pretty attached to the two roosters. They give me a lot of chicken therapy on stressful days.

Seriously though...I have very definite plans for breeding some White Jersey Giants to my NNs. What can I say? I like BIG birds.

 

[GabrielBane]

I love hearing about people "buying local", especially for their chickens. Feed stores and hatcheries just don't know their birds like homesteaders and farmers do, not to mention the love that goes into growing and caring for them on a smaller scale. I recently sold 2 laying hens and 1 laying pullet to a good friend of mine and was able to tell her everything about the parentage, when they reached point of lay, how big their eggs are and how frequently they lay, how much longer she can expect them to lay, what color the eggs are, what their personalities are like..... And when I sell chicks it's the same way. You just can't get that kind of info from mail-order.

Exactly! You can't beat the background knowledge. The reason why I ended up canceling my order for the spring naked-necks was because I just knew that I could not beat the demeanor of the birds I had encountered a few weeks back. (the Roo acted more like a turkey, constantly following and chatting with them) not to mention building a rapport with your local farmers tends to have benefits.

Edited for typos LOL.

 

[Nava]

@Nava


 Your birds are GORGEOUS!!!!

And where did you get that adorable "tree" nesting box? I'd love to have a few of those around my place. 

Than you. I made that nest in that tree. Its heavy tho

 

[Phill98]

LOL! So many temptations, so little time!

There are just a few more breeds I've been eyeing, some for pretty feathers + eggs, and some for personalities + meat/size. I still love the Buff Brahma, but I've held back because I'm so worried about the effects of our desert heat on the breed. I spent far too much time and money as it is keeping my remaining Bielefelders from dying of heat stroke. If they were such sweet birds I would've culled them already, but I'm pretty sure my son would disown me if I did that, and I'm pretty attached to the two roosters. They give me a lot of chicken therapy on stressful days. 

Seriously though...I have very definite plans for breeding some White Jersey Giants to my NNs. What can I say? I like BIG birds. 

That cross would just scream awsomeness!

I just don't know one thing about giants, are they good layers?

 

[DesertChic]

That cross would just scream awsomeness!

I just don't know one thing about giants, are they good layers?

@Beer can is the one to ask about that. His birds are gorgeous!

 

[Beer can]

@Nava yeah, you have beautiful birds! I might have to see about getting some whites down the road.

 

[Kev]

@Nava ! Good to see ya around again.

NICE birds..... think some of the white hens are show winners- exceptional type, nice tail set with nice spread..

Whatever roo you used helped improve the buffs tremendously, very nice birds!

Thanks for sending naked birds in the buff!

btw not sure if you happened to see pics of my white cx crosses? Not as pretty as yours but meat is the main thing for these right now- I like the type on the 'splash' non NN- hoping to get them heavier but with the more pleasing type that one has:

 

[Beer can]

That cross would just scream awsomeness!

I just don't know one thing about giants, are they good layers?

They started laying at 20-24 weeks this cold dark and dreary winter and both laid every single day every day until the end of May when they went broody. This summer they haven't been as consistent but have went through a long hard molt. I figure the three new pullets and the two older one's should give plenty of eggs this winter and plenty come spring for hatching. Giants are supposed to be pretty good layers, much better than other large breeds. I'm new to the breed just got them last summer so time will tell.
Processed one of the cockerels last winter, biggest chicken we've ever baked, huge dark meat turkey like drumsticks, breast wasn't filled out like a cornishX but was big and long so plenty of breastmeat anyway. And tender.
They lay big eggs also. 86 to mostly 100 grams

And next to a 63gram EE egg

I don't think I could put 42 in here like it says you can :-D
I did fit in some giant/silkie cross eggs and a couple giant/polish cross eggs after I took the pic though.
All giant eggs in the pic

 

[Beer can]

@Nava ! Good to see ya around again. NICE birds..... think some of the white hens are show winners- exceptional type, nice tail set with nice spread.. Whatever roo you used helped improve the buffs tremendously, very nice birds! Thanks for sending naked birds in the buff! btw not sure if you happened to see pics of my white cx crosses? Not as pretty as yours but meat is the main thing for these right now- I like the type on the 'splash' non NN- hoping to get them heavier but with the more pleasing type that one has:

Awesome! How old are they? I saw some pics back on this thread of someone else that crossed them, 13lb cockerels if I remember right. That's my plan for the white cockerel I have, only have one white pullet, so adding two cornishX pullets to see what happens :-D Got lucky, have someone one our state thread that lives real close to me who has been growing out cornishX this summer saved two pullets for me. Said they're still looking good so I'll give it a try, or let them give it a try Lol!

 

[Kev]

Awesome! How old are they?
I saw some pics back on this thread of someone else that crossed them, 13lb cockerels if I remember right.
That's my plan for the white cockerel I have, only have one white pullet, so adding two cornishX pullets to see what happens :-D
Got lucky, have someone one our state thread that lives real close to me who has been growing out cornishX this summer saved two pullets for me. Said they're still looking good so I'll give it a try, or let them give it a try Lol!

I forgot the exact ages.. will have to hunt down for ages on those.

That probably was me talking about the freedom rangers. They were very big birds- *pullets* were in the 9-11 pound range- also don't remember the exact age they were weighed- maybe around 6 or 8 months? My previous interest was mainly in color and trait genetics so this meat breeding is pretty new to me, not yet in the habit of keeping exact ages and cannot handle birds often so regular weights will never happen.

I would like to try breeding for birds that get heavy early enough- essentially slo gro broilers BUT also just plain like taller birds. I hope to get reasonable leg and neck length, think this will help them be more mobile- do not want waddlers* or roosters that struggle with mating.

Would love to get updates on your cx crosses. btw I said cx crosses for the NN pic above but the cx turned out to be some kind of slo gro cx as they did not grow at monster speeds. They did end up huge but it took many weeks- something like 13-16 weeks instead of just 8 weeks.

*yeah, says the person who got surprise short leg dwarfs and is keeping them for possible new project.......